Sunday, April 28, 2024

MSU women’s basketball struggles from beyond the arc in loss to Nebraska

December 9, 2023
Michigan State University junior guard DeeDee Hagermann (0) looks to see who is open during a game against Nebraska at the Breslin Center on Dec. 9, 2023.
Michigan State University junior guard DeeDee Hagermann (0) looks to see who is open during a game against Nebraska at the Breslin Center on Dec. 9, 2023.

It was a poor night from the field for the Spartans as they fell to Nebraska by a score of 74-80 in their first Big-Ten conference game of the season in front of a crowd of 3,194 people. The loss Saturday means the Spartans have now dropped their third consecutive Big-Ten conference opener. 

The Spartans struggled to get it going offensively from anywhere on the court ending the night shooting 40.3% from the field and 14.8% from behind the arc in what was the Spartan's worst shooting night this season. 

The Spartans ended the night with only four made threes from behind the arc. Three of the Spartans' only four three-pointers came in the first half.

Shooting struggles have yet to be an issue for the Spartans until tonight. Heading into the game the three ball has been one of the Spartan's biggest weapons having been shooting 43% from behind the arc before today. 

After the game, Head Coach Robyn Fralick spoke about the off night for her team.

“For as well as we have been shooting the three we didn’t shoot it well tonight, and we had good shooters taking shots. Shots we’ve made consistently this year but that’s the way it goes … you can’t live and die with it,” Fralick said.

The shooting struggles became even more prominent in the second half as the Spartans ended the second half with just one made three pointer on 14 attempts. Sophomore guard Abby Kimball provided the only three pointer of the half with just under a minute left in the game.

After the game, sophomore guard Theryn Hallock spoke about the mental pivot the team had to take due to the poor night from behind the arc.

“That’s how it goes," Hallock said. "We can’t just rely on our shots, we have to make defensive plays and turn that into buckets ... We just have to have that next play mentality.”

The Spartan’s defense was prominent all game keeping it close despite the poor night shooting. The Spartans forced 24 turnovers, but were only able to create 18 points from those opportunities as the struggled to capitalize in transition.

Fralick emphasized the importance of not letting turnover possessions go to waste in her post game press conference.

“You can’t have those become empty possessions … you can’t force a turnover and give it right back, if we’re going to double our possessions out of that we have to make better use of them,” Fralick said.

The Spartans also struggled to keep junior center Alexis Markowski quiet who had a big night on the boards adding 17 rebounds to her 13 points leading the way for the Cornhuskers who dominated the Spartans in the paint grabbing 46 rebounds to the Spartan’s 30.

“The biggest thing we will takeaway is the rebounding, I thought that was a really frustrating part of the game and a really hard part of the game for us. Every time we’d get a stop or make them take a tough shot, we have to find ways to come down with the ball,” Fralick said.

Heading into the game, Markowski was a big topic of discussion as a prominent double-double threat averaging 17.2 points and 9.8 rebounds before today.

After the loss, Hallock spoke about the struggles the team had trying to limit Markowski.

“It’s frustrating, I’m really proud of Julia (Ayrault), and Tory (Ozment) they’re doing a great job down there ... I think our help side has to improve … and rebounds, they were really important this game and we gave up too many,” Hallock said.

The Spartan’s will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 17 when they host Central Michigan University. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. with streaming available on Big Ten Plus.

Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.

Discussion

Share and discuss “MSU women’s basketball struggles from beyond the arc in loss to Nebraska ” on social media.